Mark Zuckerberg's personal security chief is leaving the Facebook
CEO's family office after being accused of sexual misconduct and
racism - though a representative for the family office has said
it has found no evidence to substantiate the allegations.

As Business Insider first reported in May, Liam Booth - the
head of security for the 34-year-old billionaire's family office,
which handles household affairs as well as the philanthropic Chan
Zuckerberg Initiative - has been accused by two former employees
of serious misconduct.

In an emailed statement on Monday, Ben LaBolt, a representative
for the family office, said internal investigations by the
office's human-resources department and its law firm Munger,
Tolles & Olson could not substantiate the allegations, but
Booth has decided to leave anyway - prompting renewed calls from
the accusers' lawyers for an independent investigation.

Here's the full statement from LaBolt:

"Over the course of several weeks, both the family office's HR
Department and Munger, Tolles & Olson have conducted separate
investigations into the allegations outlined by The Bloom Firm
against Liam Booth. These investigations included numerous
interviews with Mr. Booth's colleagues as well as a review of
other relevant documents and information. Following these
thorough investigations, the serious allegations made against Mr.
Booth by the Bloom Firm could not be substantiated.

"Mr. Booth knows that minimizing distractions is vital to
executing the security duties in this role, so he has decided to
move on from the family office to pursue other opportunities. The
family office is grateful for his service and wishes Mr. Booth
the best in his future endeavors."

The two accusers have been demanding compensation for lost wages
and damages for emotional distress, and LaBolt declined to
comment on the status of the legal proceedings.

In response, The Bloom Firm continued to call for an independent
investigation into the allegations. "We continue to urge the
family to retain a truly neutral, independent investigator
experienced in harassment and discrimination claims to make
factual findings and recommendations on these urgent and
important claims," Lisa Bloom, the head of the firm, said in an
emailed statement.

"As far as we know, no independent investigation has occurred.
Instead, a large defense firm is defending against our clients'
allegations. Attorneys are ethically bound to defend their
clients."

One of the accusers is a former employee of the 34-year-old
billionaire's household staff who was responsible for preparing
Zuckerberg's various homes for the family's arrival; the other is
a former executive assistant to Booth. Both retained the law firm
of the California attorney Bloom, whose efforts on the behalf of
Bill O'Reilly's accusers in 2017 helped get the TV host fired
from Fox News.

Booth previously worked for the US Secret Service from 2001 to
2017, including a five-year stint working to "supervise the
physical protection for the President and the first family of the
United States" during the Obama years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He
had been placed on leave after the allegations were made.

The legal demand letters also accused Brian Mosteller, the
managing director of Zuckerberg's private office who previously
served as a special assistant to President Barack Obama, of
failing to take action after the two staffers raised complaints.
Mosteller remains in his position, LaBolt said.

One of the demand letters alleges that Booth made racist remarks
to the household staffer about Chan's driving ability, including
that "she's a woman and Asian, and Asians have no peripheral
vision," while pulling his eyelids to the side in a racist
caricature.

The other letter accuses Booth of making a series of racist
remarks to the security staffer. On more than one occasion, the
letter alleges, Booth told the staffer that he "didn't trust
Black people" and that "white lives matter more than Black
lives." The letter also accuses Booth of bragging about
deliberately attempting to undermine Chan's diversity goals in
hiring and of complaining about the number of black people who
worked at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. When the security
staffer objected to that remark, the letter alleges, Booth
"angrily advocat[ed] against diversity in the workplace and the
movement Black Lives Matters, which he called 'reverse racism.'"

Business Insider previously reported that a source who had
worked around Booth and wished to remain anonymous because the
person was not authorized to speak publicly said the person had
also heard Booth say "Asians can't drive" and disparage Chan
because of her ethnicity.

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